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February 16, 2013

6 Ways to Detoxify Your Heart

Don’t numb it, FEEL it. This is the hardest and
first step. How many different methods do we employ to avoid feeling
what we really feel? Drugs and alcohol are the easiest ways to recognize
the numbing effect. But we can also use food, TV, religion, sports,
crafts, or just plain emotional repression. Yes, emotions can be truly
painful, but it’s the pain of living, of personal growth, of healing.
Let yourself feel what’s in your heart. Truly feel it. Find a safe place
and let those feelings wash over you.

Do the forensics and unpeel the layers. Often, what
we first think we are upset about isn’t the true thing that is bothering
us. Our emotions come in layers. The first layer might be anger. I AM
ANGRY!!!!!! But when you peel away the layers, what might truly be
driving that is loneliness, or fear, or hurt. This is where talking with
a therapist can really help. Sometimes it really helps to have someone
help us dig out from under all those layers we’ve covered our hearts in.

Ask the universe for guidance. Sometimes it can be
really hard to get to the source of what is actually causing us pain or
anger. When that happens, it helps to carve out some quiet time in
nature and ask for help. The universe will often speak back through
nature, through “synchronicity,” or through bringing you teachers, if
you are open to it. Sometimes those teachers come in the form of a book,
or a situation and suddenly you realize that yes, the universe DOES
listen! That’s when detoxifying your heart starts to get fun, because it
starts to feel like an adventure.
Replace fear with love. Easier said than done, right? Wrong. It’s
easy. Whenever you feel fear, question it and the situation. Ask
yourself, what would love feel like in this situation instead of fear?
The world is filled with threats and meanness and angry people–but
imagine the pain they must be feeling, the hurt in their hearts! It
won’t get any better by adding to it. The key here is trying to see the
world from the other person’s perspective. I think this gets easier as
we age, since we now experience first-hand things our parents might have
felt, for example. It’s like exercise, the more you do it, the easier
it gets. And just like exercise, YOU are the ultimate beneficiary.

Let it out and let it go. This step requires action
and the courage to act, but is key to the healing process. Once you have
identified what is truly the toxin in your heart, the only way to get
rid of it is to let it go. If there is something you need to say to
someone. SAY IT.
But say it with love. If there is something you need to do, a change
you need to make, MAKE IT. But make it with love. If there is something
you need to express, but don’t have the words, CREATE IT. But create it
with love. Your job here is not to hurt someone else (although sometimes
that happens), but to have them truly HEAR what you have to say. That
doesn’t mean they will change. In fact, they most certainly won’t. But
YOU WILL. You will feel better, lighter, happier, cleaner.DETOXIFIED!

Forgive yourself. Things will never be perfect. You
will never be perfect. Other people certainly will never be perfect
(especially me!). We will never eliminate every toxin — and in fact, the
toxins are there for a reason — just like all that bacteria in our
bodies and world that seems bad and dirty but in actuality we can’t live
without. Every mistake, every wrong action happened. You can’t change
it. All you can do is apologize to the other person/people and apologize
to yourself and vow to learn and grow from it. That’s living. That’s
life! And it’s beautiful in all it’s imperfections, even ours.